Website: www.handhq.com
Price: Starts at around $10 and increases as more hand histories are purchased.
Free Trial: No
Type: Hand History Database
Score: A (when used in conjunction with a tracker program)
Data mined hand histories that can be used and uploaded into analysis
programs like Poker Tracker or Hold’ Em Manager. This is not software
you have to download, you purchase a certain amount of hand histories
and for a small price receive them in a zip file. Great information
for a low price, but didn’t get an A+ because it’s only most useful
when used with another program.

Poker Crusher

Best Opponent Profiler

Website: www.pokercrusher.com
Price: Varies. Starts at $5-$30 a month depending on the plan you buy.
Free Trial: No.
Type: Poker Tracker, Analytics, HUD, Profiling
Score: B+
This is great analysis software to
give you stats on how your opponents play. The Poker Crusher stats
database is comprehensive and using this software will show you a ton
of stats on Pre-Flop, Flop, Turn, River and Showdown play, breaking up
player statistics so you can see what your opponent has done in each
situation in the past. This in depth analysis may not be as helpful,
but confusing for new players as the HUD lays out these stats in a way
that will require knowledge of the online poker landscape to
understand. However, if you’re seeking a comprehensive profile of the
people you play, this program is a great option.

Hold’Em Manager

Most User Friendly

Website: www.holdemmanager.com
Price: $89.99 for the Pro Version (Most common)
Free Trial: Yes, a 15 day trial is available.
Type: Poker Tracker, Analytics, HUD, Profiling
Score: A-
The depth of information combined with the general usability of this program is why we rated Hold ‘Em Manager well. Like many other poker analysis tools, the
breadth of information covered is wide, but with Hold ‘Em Manager you
do not have to be an expert to understand how to review and analyze
your playing. This makes this program more compatible with beginners
while still be valuable to experts. Another great thing is it’s
“Player Summary” area where you can make notes and analyze stats on
your opponents. I’m not sure what else you could ask for in a poker
analysis tool and HUD.

Poker Tracker 3

Best Comprehensive Program Available for Mac

Website: www.pokertracker.com
Price: $89.99 for Full Version
Free Trial: Yes, 60 day free trial is available.
Type: Poker Tracker, Analytics, HUD
Score: A
One of the great things about this program is that it’s available on a free 60-day trial AND has a Mac version. The automated installation makes it friendly for beginners who may not want to deal with or know how to handle a manual install, like many pieces of poker software have. It’s also a customizable program so while the default settings and reports will be helpful, you can change the settings so that the HUD and reports can give you the information that you’re looking for. For more advanced users, Poker Tracker 3 also has a customizable statistics engine where you can create your own stats that you can even add to the HUD. The only thing Poker Tracker doesn’t have is an easy poker profiler, but if you can get used to reading the stats it provides, you’ll be able to profile people yourself in no time.

Hold ‘Em Genius

Best Beginner’s Tool

Website: www.holdemgenius.com
Price: $99.85
Free Trial: No.
Type: Odds Calculator
Score: A-
This is a great program for what it specializes
in, calculating odds. If you’re looking for something a little more
statistics heavy like a tracker or tool for analyzing your moves post
play, then this may not be for you. However, there are many pluses to
perhaps using this tool in addition to a tracking and analytics tool.
Firstly, Hold ‘Em Genius is basically a skin for your poker room –
giving you all of the details and advice for how to play your hand as
flawlessly as possible. For beginners, it’s a great tool because it
visually shows you what your odds of winning are, and where on the
spectrum the value of your hand is.

I play alot of tournaments and sometimes $0.10/$0.25 cash tables and rarely SNGs. But mainly I want improve my tournament play. Is there anything you can say about + or - of those two softwares?
–
JurikFeb 6 '14 at 13:24

as I said - for HM2 is that it is very ram-intensive, but I like the UI of HM2 more than the one from PT4. Functionality is almost the same.
–
Martin SheenFeb 6 '14 at 19:25

Okay - so if they are almost the same it shouldn't be that big difference. Actually I'm testing the trail version of HoldemManager2.
–
JurikFeb 8 '14 at 19:33

I agree, FPDB is a great, valid, and valuable utility that is 100% and open source last time I checked. And it works just fine at sealswithclubs :)

If you want a relatively 'light' database and hand tracker/analyzer, DEFINITELY try out FPDB.

If you are looking for a highly valuable, and game changing leak buster, I suggest HoldemManager HIGHLY. Do not mistake me, I am a poker professional whose sole source of income has been internet poker, and I have used with great success (and cost, both monetary and of memory) every iteration of HUD and PTx, and while those are great to this day they don't hold a candle to the utility of http://www.holdemmanager.com/buy/4/leak-buster-no-limit

If you're on MAC it's got to go to Poker Copilot, it's really simple to use, simple to set up and they give a really decent trial period - although it costs £49 (~$80) to purchase once it's ran out, so it can be quite pricey.

I also like the PokerZebra software (available on the MAC app store for a few pounds) to calculate pot odds quickly.